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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The gauntlet of soccer talent in the Tri-Valley League makes every team, no matter the skill level, vulnerable. Dover-Sherborn head coach John Gruseck knows that too.
“The TVL is such a strong league year-in and year-out. If you lose focus, every team has the ability to take points away from anyone, at any time.”
In 2016, the message is simple and clear for Dover-Sherborn: stay focused and stay together.
DS returns not only a multitude of talent to their roster from a season ago in the form of both upper and underclassmen, but they also return a strong sense of leadership.
The Raiders will be led by their two senior captains, Elli Yasuna and Sam Hartley, as Gruseck says that the duo is the perfect example of the leadership that is present on his team.
“We have a lot of guys returning this year and there has been good chemistry made throughout camp,” says Gruseck. “Any team that wants to have success has to have good leadership. Sam, Elli, and the rest of the upperclassmen are doing an excellent job so far.”
Along with Hartley and Yasuna, other seniors that Gruseck sees a lot of potential in heading into the 2016 season are Daniel Yang, Zack Abrams, and Robbie Black.
“Zack is a four-year varsity player and knows the game of soccer very well,” says Gruseck. “We are excited to see what he, Daniel, Robbie, and the rest of the seniors can bring to the table in their final year.”
Gruseck also says that the biggest key for his team this fall is developing even more chemistry together than what has already been accomplished in camp.
“As I’ve said, we have strong leadership on this team, so it is important that we incorporate that leadership into developing significant chemistry with one another as the season rolls on,” says Gruseck. “Expectations are high for the program as a whole and we are going to take it day-by-day. If we are able to do improve more and more every day, there is no reason why we cannot be highly competitive once again this season.”
